344 REPORT AND ESTIMATE. 
it; and these side hills come well down to the river, in some cases with a steep slope. Тһе 
excavations and embankments will be large, and in some cases sustaining walls will be required. 
Four streams, and several places where water runs in the spring, occur in this distance. 
Crossing then а low place for three-fourths of a mile there are two slues. The road passes 
through a very heavy growth of cedar, and in one-fourth of a mile reaches the point of junction 
with the trail over the mountain to the south of the Coeur 4” Aléne river. Неге a stream comes 
in from the south. In the next six miles the Cour Ф Aléne is crossed on the trail six times, 
but the road can be located without crossing the river more than half that number of times. 
Thus far, except in the low place and forest of cedar referred to, the river does not overflow 
its banks. The next thirteen miles the river is crossed sixteen times on the trail, nine of which 
are within the distance of 23 miles, and in the remaining eleven miles it is crossed but twice. 
In these two last distances of twenty-four miles there are distances where the road will pass 
over wet and marshy places. There will be some, though not excessive, rock cutting. The 
whole section, from the tunnel to the Mission, will have a large amount of bridge and culvert 
work. The bridges will none of them be difficult or costly structures, but frequently they must 
run quite obliquely to the course of the river to avoid short curvature. The bridges may be 
wooden structures. Piles could be used in passing some of the wet places. The mountain 
pine in the vicinity will furnish abundant material for this and all other purposes of construc- · 
tion. There is good building stone at several localities, limestone up the stream, and slate 
lower down; gravel, sand, and clay occur at convenient points. "The highest rise and fall of the 
river is four feet. 
CŒUR D'ALÉNE MISSION TO CROSSING OF COLUMBIA—DISTANCE 1813 MILES. 
The line keeps north of the Coeur d'Aléne river and lake, and crossing the Spokane, or, 
more properly speaking, Coeur d'Aléne, near the eastern edge of the Coeur d'Aléne prairie, 
passes in nearly a straight direction to the main Columbia, near but above the mouth of the 
"Yakima. The line could keep still further down the Cœur d' Aléne and Spokane to a junction 
with the railroad line reported practicable as the result of the explorations of 1852-54. Тһе 
course laid down on the map and described above is unquestionably practicable, the whole 
country having been under view; but great care will be required to locate a crossing of the 
river, and to gain the plateau beyond; for there are spurs running down from the south to the 
Coeur d' Aléne river and lake which have to be turned. The line is located on the map at the 
foot of three spurs. But between the river and the Kamas Prairie creek, there is a divide 
which will have to be surmounted, and corresponding to the ridges found in other parts of the 
Great Plain. The distance from the Mission to the crossing of the Cœur Ф Aléne is twenty- 
seven miles. There will be much heavy work on this distance—considerable curvature and 
some rock excavation. The route, after leaving the Mission two miles, will pass through a 
rolling and wooded country, interspersed with prairies for about eighty miles. The remaining 
distance to the Columbia is destitute of timber—a distance of about one hundred miles. Except 
for this portion, timber, wood, building stone, sand, clay, and gravel abound for purposes of 
construction. For the portion destitute of timber the supply must come. from the extremities. 
The upper Columbia will furnish an inexhaustible supply. There is no danger of a deficiency 
of water, as there are many streams and lakes along the route. 
The fall from the Coeur Ф Aléne Mission to the crossing of the Spokane is about 198 feet in 
thirty miles, giving an aggregate grade of 62 feet to the mile; and from the crossing of the 
